David Miliband relaunches political career 8 years after brother Ed stabbed him in the back by joining anti-Brexit group
Former Foreign Secretary will join Lib Dem ex-Deputy PM Nick Clegg and senior Conservative Nicky Morgan to accuse hard Brexiteers like Boris Johnson of 'holding Britain to ransom'
DAVID Miliband is relaunching his UK political career eight years after his brother Ed stabbed him in the back by joining a cross-party anti-Brexit group this week.
The former Labour Foreign Secretary will accuse hard Brexiteers like Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg of “holding Britain to ransom”.
After several years in America he is joining up with join the Lib Dem’s ex-Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and the senior Conservative MP Nicky Morgan to deliver a pro-EU message.
It will again spark rumours that a new centrist party could be formed to bring together disaffected Labour MPs, the pro-EU Lib Dems and Conservative rebels on Brexit.
Mr Miliband has long been seen as a potential Labour leader, despite a humiliating defeat to his younger brother Ed in the 2010 contest to replace Gordon Brown.
After quitting as an MP in the wake of the devastating loss, which both men said put a strain on their family, he moved to the EU to head up the charity International Rescue Committee.
And despite occasional forays into Westminster issues he has largely stayed out of the British political fray.
But re-entering it today, he writes in the : “A hard Brexit won’t create Global Britain.
“It is merely a path to a fantasy island of our own where we will have reduced access to our largest markets and a diminished standing in the world.”
The trio are calling on MPs from all parties to “take back control of the direction of Brexit” and table amendments to Theresa May’s EU legislation to force her hand and change the direction of the negotiations with Brussels.
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Mr Miliband, 52, was Tony Blair’s head of policy and helped write Labour’s successful 1997 election manifesto before becoming an MP in 2001.
He rose through several ministerial positions to become Foreign Secretary at just 41 in 2007 when Gordon brown became Prime Minister.
Meanwhile his brother Ed, four years younger than him, had also risen through the Labour ranks to become a minister, and they were the first siblings to sit in the Cabinet together since the 1930s.
But while David was expected to take over the Labour leadership after they lost the 2010 election, Ed shocked Westminster by throwing his hat into the ring, eventually winning in a knife-edge vote.